el niño
/ɛl ˈniːn.joʊ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.79 in modern English
5
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "Additionally, scientists aren’t expecting to be surprised again by El Niño, a warming of the Pacific Ocean that tends to dampen Atlantic hurricane activity."
- "The odd weather phenomenon that many blame for the suffering here — the drought and sudden storm pattern known as El Niño — is expected to become more frequent as the planet warms."
- "In part, that’s because the planet is entering a natural climate phenomenon known as El Niño, which typically brings warmer oceans. But now, El Niño is coming on top of long-term warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions."
- "El Niño is also partially responsible for the ongoing catastrophic rainfall in east Africa, which began in March and has caused devastating flooding in Kenya, Tanzania, Somalia, Rwanda and Burundi."
Etymology
From Spanish El Niño (literally “The Little Boy”), used by South American fishermen in the 17th century, referring to the Christ child, as the phenomenon is observed around Christmas time.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: El Niño